Today's track: Mountains O' Things — Tracy Chapman
For about eight months now, I've been taking things out of my house.
Nothing dramatic. One drawer, one closet, one shelf at a time. If I don't use it, wear it, or need it, it goes. What's left has a job. It's all part of setting up Future Rob — I wake up, I know where everything is, and I get going.
My spending changed right along with it. These days my money goes to two things: the stuff I use every single day, and the stuff that actually helps me. That's about it.
I'm not collecting things anymore.
Tracy Chapman put that feeling on her very first album, back in 1988 (when I was born). In "Mountains O' Things," she daydreams about a life stacked high with stuff — and the longer the list gets, the heavier the song feels. Thirty-eight years later, it still lands. Press play while you read.
Of course I went digging, because I wanted to know — am I weird, or is everybody feeling this?
Here's what I found. The average American household spent $78,535 in 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the government folks who track what we earn and spend. A third of that, $26,266, went to housing. Another 17% went to getting around — cars, gas, insurance. Food was about 13%.
We spend a smaller slice of our money on food than almost anybody on earth. In Kenya it's 58%. Food is cheap here, and so is stuff. That's a blessing. It's also the trap.
And most of us have no idea what we're paying for. In one survey, people guessed they spent $86 a month on subscriptions. Then they listed them out, line by line — $219. That's about $1,600 a year quietly walking out the door.
Then there's my favorite one. One in four Americans rents a self-storage unit, per a StorageCafe survey. The number one reason? "Not enough room at home." We're paying rent on our stuff. Somebody owns all those units, by the way. Hold that thought.
Meanwhile, folks in Sweden save about 16% of what they take home. Germany, about 11%. Us? About 5%. And American credit card balances hit $1.263 trillion this summer, per the New York Fed. Trillion. With a T.
When Charles Schwab asked Americans what being wealthy really means, the top answers weren't about money at all. Health. Relationships. Experiences. Free time.
So we say we value time and health — and then we spend like we value stuff.
Cornell researchers even studied this. People waiting in line to buy an experience, like a concert or a trip, are happier and nicer to each other than people waiting in line to buy a thing. You don't hear about fights breaking out at the trailhead. Black Friday is a different story.
We spent all of last week in the toolbox, so here's one more for you — an app called Hurdlr.
It hooks up to my bank accounts, and I just swipe each charge: personal or business. You can set rules, too, so the stuff that's always a business expense sorts itself.
It tracks my mileage on its own, too. I work from home, so nearly every drive I take is a business drive, which is dope. For 2026, the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) lets you deduct 72.5 cents per business mile. Drive 10,000 business miles and that's a $7,250 deduction. Your CPA can tell you what counts for you.
At the end of the year I hand the whole thing to my CPA and I'm done. It's been a real relief, and it runs me somewhere around $100 a year.
And if you need a great CPA, I'm happy to introduce you to mine. They don't pay me a thing for referrals — they're just so good I want everybody to have them. It matters so much that every new agent at Winner Realty gets an intro to my CPA as part of onboarding.
I've made a few little swaps, too. My Dad pays for Apple's family plan, and up to six family members can share it, so I switched from Spotify to Apple Music. Spotify's individual plan is $12.99 a month now, so that's about $156 a year back in my pocket. No ads, better sound, and I was already on Apple for everything else. Thanks, Dad.
I've cut Netflix and a handful of other things. With the lawsuit with Joe and Kim Worth still going, I went back through every single expense to help cover it. If you ever find yourself in a tough spot with a business partner, I'm happy to introduce you to my attorney, too.
It's worth a look at your own. Pull up your statements this week, find the thing you forgot you're paying for, and look for a cheaper version of the stuff you do use. You might surprise yourself.
But here's the truth about me.
It's easier for me to make new money than it is to cut expenses. And it's a whole lot more fun.
Cutting only goes so far, because you can't go lower than zero. There's no limit on how much more you can make. Kind of like the stock market — the downside has a floor, the upside doesn't.
I'd rather dream up a way to make money than spend my night trimming my streaming bill. That's why podcasts like ChooseFI (FI is short for financial independence) don't hit me the same way. I like them, and I read some of their stuff. It just doesn't get me going the way a new idea does.
So here's an idea for today. Instead of combing through your budget line by line, grab that little idea you've been sitting on — the "it'd be cool if I could just…" one — and talk it through with Claude. See if it's something you can build. I wrote about that a few weeks ago: no one's coming to save you, but you can build it yourself.
As I write this, OpenAI's DevDay (their big yearly conference for developers) hasn't happened yet. Those announcements usually wipe out a bunch of little software companies that are really just a wrapper around somebody else's technology. I'm team Anthropic and I run everything through Claude, but I'm still excited to see what they come out with, because it tells us what's coming next. That's the fun of tech. Hard to keep up with, fun to follow.
And thank you again to the 43 of you who showed up for my AI webinar. That was a blast. I've been geeking out with a bunch of you ever since.
Real estate works the exact same way.
You can appeal your property taxes, shop your insurance, refinance when rates drop. All smart. All of it has a floor.
Or you can make — another door, another unit, another deal. Every tool from last week, from assignments and novations to seller financing, lease options, and assumable loans, is about making money. Not one of them is about cutting.
Remember that one in four Americans paying rent on their stuff? Somebody's collecting that rent.
Try to be the one collecting it.
Okay, confession. Yesterday I ordered something I don't need at all. 😂 It's for a new monthly event I'll be announcing at the Christmas party, and I think everyone's going to have a lot of fun with it. I just love getting like-minded people together, people who are actually doing the work and making things happen.
All of our Winner Realty agents seem happy as clams right now. I'm so proud of them, their wins, their questions, all of it. I love working through things with them.
And my calls yesterday were all over the place. Different people, different topics, and so much overlap that I ended up introducing people I talked to in the morning to people I talked to in the afternoon. Best kind of day.
Here to serve. Let me know what you need.
📊 Yesterday's poll: Which tool are you actually going to try first? Assignments 50%, "All of the above, apparently" 50%. Novations, seller financing, lease options, and assumables got shut out.
Love the ambition. Start with an assignment. Your first deal will teach you more than the next five issues will. Life rewards action. Psssst… let's spray some LOIs and make people say no!
Today's poll:
When money gets tight, what's your first move?
🏆 Want today's Top Five? Every morning I screen the whole Louisville MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for the five best deals and the five most ripe for a lowball, with the number I'd offer on each. I can't blast other agents' listings to a list, but I can send them to you personally. Reply "FIVE."
Happily,
Rob Bergeron
Owner–Realtor at Award-Winning Winner Realty
Winner Realty: (502) 305-8915
Winner Realty | OffMarket.deals | Property Partner Data Company
Schedule time to discuss your goals, bottlenecks, or whatever’s on your mind — book me here.
PS: Want an intro to my CPA? Reply "CPA" and I'll connect you. It costs you nothing, and nobody's paying me for it. We just want you to Win Big. The more money you keep in your pocket, the more you can deploy, the better you can glide through life with financial stability.
PSS: Incredible insights below from President of KREE (Kentucky Real Estate Exchangers) Wes Odle. They said “Rob you can bring realtor and industry friends to this weeks meeting on Thursday morning.” Any agents or industry people want to join me? Raise some hell? Hit me up, I’ll give you the time and location! Great chance to diversify your skills and knowledge base. Also….if you’re a young agent. The checks are great in the commercial world and there are a lot of gray hairs there nearing retirement. Nearly the whole commercial industry honestly. This is a great chance to learn from them and take them on as mentors…maybe inherit their book of business? I hear rumors about Winner Commercial….but you’ll have to come to the Christmas Party to hear about that.
From Wes:
Higher Rates, But CRE is Still Moving
Higher interest rates continue to reshape commercial real estate, but the latest data suggests buyers and sellers are adapting rather than sitting on the sidelines.
Here are a few takeaways from this week’s market data:
Transaction activity is picking up. The LightBox CRE Activity Index rose to 116.5 in August, up from 113.4 in July and 104.3 a year ago.
More properties are coming to market. Commercial property listings jumped 20% in August, reversing three consecutive months of declines.
Deals are still getting done. Nearly 1,800 commercial real estate transactions closed in August, a 6% increase from July.
Financing remains the biggest hurdle. Lender-driven appraisal activity fell 29% from July's 2026 high, highlighting the growing disconnect between properties entering the market and deals that can make sense at today's borrowing costs.
Higher rates are forcing price discovery. With the Fed raising rates another 25 basis points and the 10-year Treasury hovering near 5%, buyers are underwriting more conservatively and focusing heavily on cash flow, debt coverage and basis.
For multifamily, there is an important countertrend: new apartment construction is slowing sharply. That should eventually reduce new supply and could strengthen occupancy and rent growth for existing properties.
Capital hasn't disappeared—it's become more selective. Investors continue to pursue properties where pricing reflects today's financing environment and where there is a clear path to improving returns.
What does this mean for multifamily owners and investors?
The market is increasingly separating properties priced for today's capital markets from those still anchored to yesterday's valuations. For owners considering a sale, understanding where your property trades today is becoming increasingly important. For buyers, this period may create opportunities to acquire assets at a more attractive basis before borrowing costs eventually improve.
PSSS: Still looking to take on associate brokers at Winner Realty in Kentucky and Southern Indiana. Don’t be shy, don’t have to have your brokers license yet! And of course always looking for more great Winner Realty agents!
Are you the next great Winner?
PSSSS: You can do it, You can.